Gene Autry Museum. Saturday. 23 july

The day started as usually with breakfast and the great excitment, in this case, of going to the Gene Autry museum for the morning and a part of the afternoon. The girls and I braded our hair and all of us dressed like couboys for the occasion, with cowboy hats and jeans, and some girls wore their boots. Jeffrey's fieldtrip group, me and my group, had a two-hour tour with our lovely guide Jan. She showed us the beautiful baskets that the Native Americans did many years ago, and that they used baskets for all things like fishing, like bottles, and oven boots! It was impressive. We saw a lot of old ropes they wore, and their wagons. We saw many dissected animals and we got to touch their fur with a little special equipment for visitors. It smelled weird. It smelled like something you don't take out of your wardrope for a long, long time. We learned some cool stuff about this native americans, like they saved the belly botton of their babies and it was like their spiritual ID. And also, that people do that today but for medical purposes. Makes one think about the ancient wisdom of those people. This was truly amazing, but so tiring! After the tour, we were very hungry so we went to the restaurant with our special Autry Museum bucks. I got a quesadilla, and it was delicious. It reminded me of home, because my mum sometimes makes some with thicker bread, but it was just about the same taste. The cheese was not very salty like others I have tasted since we got here. So I loved it. I also had some Philadelphia cheese. It gavee the quesadilla extra flavor, and little bit more softness. Later, we could take pictures with a horse in exhibition that usually is for children but we liked it. Also, we could go see the little gift shop. But I think that name is totally wrong! I did not like too much the prices. There was no gift there! It was so expensive! We were tired but no so much to not seize the other trip to the other Mall. I did not buy a lot, but I had lots of fun laughing about many things I saw with Estefanía and some other friends of SUPP. At the end of the day, we got to keep our hats. Isn't that nice?

Dodgers Baseball Game. Friday. 22 july

We got up in friday's morning to have breakfast and go to Cougar Dome to have devotions. There, they made us go to the basketball room and made us play some games to wake us up. We had to spin around in two groups in two big circles, and when Devon shouted we had to get into groups of two with our roommates and the group who was slower, lose. We did not finished because it was kind of a long game. After that, we heard a little more of Joseph, and his rollercoaster life, his ups and downs, and how he used his gift, to interpret dreams, for good things in his life. When we went out, it was time for lunch and we went again to the tai restaurant, like the first weekend in SUPP. I got to eat with chopsticks again and I liked it a lot because it feels strange to my fingers. The food was spicy as in general in the US, but I could eat it. For our american culture activity we learned how to play baseball on Trinity's lawn. We were playing boys against girls after the interns explained the game to us. The boys won finally and we we had an our to shower and prepare ourselves to the big game. We all wore blue shirts, supp shirts, or Dodgers shirts, that were blue too. Because Dodgers are blue, and it's slogan is "think Blue". After that, we went straight to the buses that were taking us to our Dodger's game. It was so big! But is as big as soccer stadiums in Argentina. When we arrived there was still two hours left for the game to start. So we took a lot of pictures and talked about the game, because some of us were not really sure how the game was. While we were waiting we could smell all kinds of sweets and greasy food. There were Cracker Jacks and Peanuts of course, and ice cream and Dodger Dogs. I only had a Dodger dog because that's all what I could buy besides a water bottle, because all is so expensive there. The stadium was so clean also. It surprised me because in many stadiums the sits usually are sticky and greasy. The bathrooms were much more cleaner than in Argentina too. And they had doors, in contrast with Argentina, sadly. Anyway, the Nationals vs Dodgers game begun. We started loosing with 3 points against us, and it stayed the same until the last entrance when Dodgers made a great hit, although they made only 3 points to match the game. And we had hope, until the Nationals made a Home Run and gained four points at one time. But we had a great time anyway because we laughed a lot because we did not understand sometimes and we cheered for the Nationals. We had lots of fun. We ate dinner during the game. I ate my Dodgers Dog and some snacks I had brought. That sausage reminded me of home again. It was delicious! Now I know why it is so famous. When we headed back to our buses, I saw a limousine! I was surprised to have one so close to me. I fell asleep in the bus because I was so tired of so much fun!

My partner in class

 Although we go to the same school, I did not know my partner until I came here to the US and had to work with her as a team. Araceli Condori and I are class partners in our presentation Topic about liberty of expression, in Azusa Pacific University.  It is an interesting topic which of we selected two parts to talk about and later present to the class individually. We all have already made an individual powerpoint presentation for the rest of our class talking about ouselves, to know each one of us and get to know about each other individually and as a group. She is short, brunette, with big black eyes shaped like almonds. She is very honest with people, very helpful and careful. She is nice to create a comfortable enviroment. I found out  during this time, that she is a little shy when she must do a public presentation, andabout her family and her dog and how much she loves them, she talked about what she thinks is important in life and her fright of spiders. All things that I couldn't have found out for myself like her fears or her goals in life. It is interesting how being in the same country, we have so different views of some things, and different traditions each family. Anyway, we have been going to school here in Azusa for about two weeks, sitting next to each other and everyday we learn a little from one another. We've learned to talk to each other in english even when it makes us laugh because our native language is spanish. I remember one time we could not talk because we were laughing so much! I think that when you know a person better, is easier to work with him or her. Because you create a bound that crosses a little bit through the shyness and makes the people feel more comfortable in the precense of other people. Makes people feel that they can share themselves with the group, share ideas and feelings that aim to the success in their work.

The Magic of Disneyland. Saturday. 16th July

 

I am exhausted, and speachless about my experience in Disneyland today. They don't lie when they say it is a magical and wonderful place. We were so tired about the day before in the Mall, but we waked up earlier so we could get earlier to Disneyland too anyway. The interns explained to us all the cares that we had to have in Disneyland, some advices and the schedule as always. Then, we had our breakfast on the bus, out of little brown bags, like I've always seen in cartoons. I liked it very much. They gave us lunch and dinner cards with Mickey and Tinkerbell pictures on them, a card for taking fast passes tickets with a picture of Pluto and a colorful soft new map for each one of us. I couldn't wait to get in there. And when we finally entered, I could sense with all my senses the greatness of the Magic Kingdom, from the flower smell, to the beautiful tall and narrow buildings. We started the trip with our guide Courtney, who told us a little bit about Walt Disney, his life, his work and his dreams while walking by the main streets. We learned about leadership and played some games about teamwork and confidence as part of our studies in SUPP. Also, we went on our first ride with Courtney and the rest of our group to Splash Mountain. I was so scared! But it was so much fun. The rollercoasters here are not the same as in Argentina. At least not as the ones I had ridden. After that, we went for some lunch in groups of four, for our protection, and planned the order of our trip in that enormous park. We knew we couldn't pass through all the atractions in one day, so we managed our time the best we could. We visited roller coasters and toontown. It was like beeing in an actual cartoon. We also saw the big parade. I was so happy! Many caracters in Disney movies I've watched over and over again were just in front of me, dancing to the sweet party music across the big streets of that magical place. The floats had so many curves and beautiful colours. It was beautifully painted, and the actors were just like the actual characters, and many of them said hi with their hands. They looked so happy! It was pure joy. But what really touched me deeply were the big, spectacular, flashy, colorful fireworks at night. There was a great presentation in the sky. Tinkerbell appeared in the sky, with Peter Pan's movie sounds, and painted the sky with sparkly blingy lights. The songs were changing all the time, and always with the fireworks following the music and the tone of the words. Some were like little pops, other like big cannons, and other were like little but strong bubbles exploding at the same time. I think there is anything I disliked but the large lines. And we had fast passes for many games, so it was not so trouble making. While doing all those activities the entire day, I couldn't help thinking all the work all those people do in Disneyland everyday. All the costumes for the dancers in the parade, the big decorations in the parade's cars, the make up, the organazation of the streets, the constant cleaning, the coordination between sound and lights at the time for fireworks. The shows played over and over again all day, Mickey, Goofy and others characters walking all the way in the park taking pictures with children, teens, parents and grandparents. Made me think again in Walt Disney's life and the inspiration that he is for so much people. He is a real example of a hardworking, never-give-up role model. I wanted so much to visit the park because I knew it wasn't like the ones in my country, and I could see this differences like the importance of the history of the park, and the size of the attractions, at the end of the day. I've also learnt that when you have to organise something big, you have to do big preparations. At the end of the day we wanted still more attractions, even when we almost couldn't walk anymore. But we could rest in our beds knowing that we've had our first experience spending all our Saturday with the happy characters of Walt Disney's imagination and lots of amazing attractions. We had a great day of fun at Disneyland.

Shopping Day! Best Buy and Ontario Mills Mall - Friday 15 july

 Today we didn't go to our classes. We had to be early in our buses. We did all the things quickly and organised so we could go as fast as possible. I got dressed with my most comfortable shoes, went downstairs and had a delicious apple and cinammon oatmeal bowl for breakfast. Then, we were told to get all our things for the big visit and go to Cougar Dome, where we were going to have devotions. We talked a little bit about what we have already learnt about Joseph and his life last week. Then, we moved on with some pasages which described some of the highs and lows in his life. I already knew the story, but everytime seems to become something new. That's why my day began so well. Then, it got better. We went straight to the buses and stopped in Best Buy Store. It was huge! I am glad they played some music while we were shopping, because otherwise I would have feeled a little overwhelmed with so much technology around me. It had several sections like movies, music, computers, back to school, and many others. I was tempted to buy the whole case of my favorite TV show FRIENDS and the Back to the Future Trilogy in blu-ray, but it was so expensive. I wanted to save some of my money for the Mall! We stayed there for two hours. When we were coming back to the buses, I saw a big pile of computer boxes next to the interns. There were like ten or fifteen computers there! I was so amazed that so many people where going there for the exact same purpose. I think it was hard for me to understand because I already have one, and I was so excited to go to this giant mall. When we finally got there, we organised the schedule for the day and arranged the time to meet again at night. On the way to our lunch place, I could smell different scents in every step I took, depending on if I were passing by a clothing store, the arcade games, or each eating store in the place. We had some McDonald's food quikly and go shopping rigth away. We first visited Forever 21 store. Now I know why every girl that visits California wants to go there. The clothes are so beautiful. They have different sorts of styles, colours and textures. It smelled like fruit. My friends stayed there longer than I did. I prefered to go window shopping to other stores and then decide if I wanted to buy something or not. I went to Disney store, big brand stores like Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Kline, perfume stores and accessory stores. I didn't shop a lot, but I was fully satisfiyed because, at the end of the day, I got what I wanted to get. For dinner, we went to this fancy little restaurant called Dave and Busters. I was not hungry so I first went with some Taiwanese friends to the arcade place right there in the restaurant. We tried some games but the funner game was the basketball game. Most of all, because it gave lots and lots of tickets which we could exchange for prices in the principal store. We had lots of fun, then have some chicken with mashed potatoes and keep shopping for a while. At last we returned to our meeting point with all our big bangs and headed directly to the buses. There was quite a calmed and unusual silence that night. Fortunately, it helped me to sleep for a while on the bus and then in my cozy bed. After all that fun, shopping and playing, I needed lots of time to rest.

 Tomorrow we're going to Disneyland, and God only knows what great excitements awaits for us!

The Getty Art Museum. Saturday. July 9th.

This enormous museum guards some of the most famous pictures and sculptures all around the globe. After all the fun we've had yesterday in Hollywood, I was not sure if there was gonna be any improvements in the levels of surprisement in my mind. We had breakfast early and got into the bus. The journey was long, but it was worth it. I could see Monet, Van Gogh, and many more artists' work. I could scent the smell of the old paint on the walls, and the italian stones, which formed the walls and the floor of that marvelous and magical place. We, my friends and I, had a great time today admiring all those great creations and its stories. I took over eighty pictures. Something that I liked a lot was actually being abke ti see the brushprints in the paintings. Somethink i didn't lie so much was that a guard called me to say that I could not stay too close to the exhibitions. There were statues too, and there were made with so much detail it seemed like it was going to jump alive. Such a shame I was not able to touch them. All the halls had a similar smell, but I could not tell what. It's just museum smell. After that, we went all together for some lunch at the museum's cafeteria, and relaxed in its beautiful gardens, lying on the lawn. It was so perfectly cut, and surrounded of beautiful arrangements of tall pink  small cute flowers, and benches, and sidewalks. There were much families spending the afternoon there. It  was so peaceful to hear the children laugh and see them jump all over.At the end of the day, we enjoyed a short part of a concert that was been played there by a not so well known band. ut someone who was well known appeared sneaky way around people: Drew Barrymore! Jeffrey just called us really calmed and said to us that she was there! I could not believe it. I was at just 5 meters from Drew Barrymore. I could not take a picture because she was covering her face with her hair and I had no memory to film. I either could ask for an autograph as she was leaving so fast. Anyway, I was really happy! After that, we went back for meeting our bus in the parking lot and, for our surprise, it was all full of lights and funny-shaped seats, like a bar or a pub, where we could sit in a circle, and dance to the loud music! We could not feel tireness until we got here. I have no more energy.But I'm sure I've made a good We went the two hours of journey with that loud and funny music dancing, screaming and singing at the top of our loungs. It was a great day visiting this wonderful place, and hanging out with friends.

Hollywood hotties! Friday. 8 July.

"Oh my stars!" is the line I'm going to borrow from my friend Jeffrey, who is also one of my beloved interns and field trip leader, and discribes all the fun stuff we could enjoy about this special place called Hollywood. We have had a very long week, but we could manage to get there after lunch, when all the celebrities were awaiting us in wax sahpes, at the Madame Tusauds museum. This was the first place for our little tour. In there, we saw all kinds of famous people, from Nobert de Niro to Britney Spears. We took a lot of pictures with them. We were so excited! Some of them were very real, but others did not look at the real actors at all. I
The place did not smell funny as I expected. The only thing that did smell was my hand after getting a wax hand. It was a wonderful sensation! They made me put my hand in cold water filled with ice, so it would not hurt when I put my hand on warm wax. Later i got to put my hand again in that water with the wax on. It was like the wax was absorving my hand. Then they painted it red. It was so funny! And it was nothing expensive. Finally, I got my hand in wax shape as a souvenir. It's a pity that we've beening such a hurry, because I wanted to take so many pictures! My eyes literaly hurted after that visit, and my feet too. When we were out, we looked for some gifts to our families in a little shop near by. I got some t-shirts for my little cousins and sungasses for myself. I wantes to wait to the other store to buy a little star to mom and dad each. After that, we went for lunch to McDonald's. The kind of service and the food is different from my home country. The hamburgers were so greasy and smelly! Thank god I ordered chiken. Still, I like it better at home, but it was great because I was with my SUPP friends. Something that really surprised me was that they don't pour the coke, you can do it yourself, as many  times as you want. We don't hve that in Argentina, but the coke has less taste here. Before our field trip ended, we visited the front door of the Chinese theater and looked to the famous people's hands and feet on the floor. There were so many! I took a lot of pictures there too. It was difficult because people pass by right in front of the camera because the foot and handprints are all over the floor. We were a little sad because Jenniffer Aniston was just the they before and we didn't got to see her in person. Finally, we went for some more souvenirs and dance a little following the street's sound while waiting for the bus to ride us back to APU. At the end, I was so tired I didn't realise how much fun we've enjoyed this day, with all that famous people and the great time we've had.

4th of July. Monday.

First of all, I have to say I've been waiting for this since I got here to California. Today we got up early, had our breakfast in the morning, gathered around wih our small groups, and started the preparation for our trip to Almahnsor park. We prepared some blankets on the beautiful pinchy grass and layed down for a while. We did some very fun stuff like playing new games the taiwanese people tought us, with cards. We also had typical food of the day. For example, we ate hot dogs, watermelon, chips and ice cream. It was delicious! The hot dogs were pretty much as in Argentina, and the ice cream too. But the watermelon is so juicy! I loved it here. One thing that surprised me, was that the ice cream was so cheap. I got like a quarter pound of it for a dolar and a half. Thats a little cone in Argentina. We learnt about traditions of the day, like playing football or making a barbaque. Also, we sang some songs and Ethan,  played the guitar. Later, we took some short walks and a little nap under the sunshine. We chat a lot sat on our towels on the ground very relaed, and talking about life. Finally, we watched the big fireworks. They lasted for about ten minutes. It was fabulous. They were red, blue and white. And they were so sparkly. The first one exploded, and others more little exploded after that. And that way were other fireworks of other colours, and louder ones. It's the end of the day and I can't sleep. I'm still thinking about all the fun that we had today.
 I cannot wait to get to Hollywood next friday.

Day 1 at SUPP. Saturday 1st July

This has been a very long day, but it just passed by like flying for all the activity that we've had. I've just arrived and many people pointed out that my english was so fluid. I don't agree with them but I'm glad they say so. The day started with a relaxed breakfast. I had oatmeal. I had never eaten oatmeal before! I had one which comes in a brown little bag with a green drawing, and smells like apples and cinammon. Is so creamy. Judging from the movies, I though I was not going to like it. But turns out I love it! After that, que had some orientation about the Summer University Preparation Program (SUPP) from the interns: Jeffrey, Ethan, Devon, Adrienne, Mary, Wendi and Breeann, who are really helpful, loving, and caring. Later, they talked about our new keys, loundry cards, which we don't have in Argentina and our shedule for the month, full of activities and cool field trips, among other important details. I am not quite adapted to the difference of hours between Argentina and the United States although is not much. Also I'm not use to the hour that they have dinner here yet because I usually have it at 10 pm. I am also a little harmed for my very bad sleep in the plane yesterday and I'm not very preocupied of being hungry. Although, the food here it's really different from food at home, so I got to try a few new things other than flavored oatmeal like bagels, macaroni and cheese and tai food. What is also really different from my country, are the prices. Here in north America things are much more cheaper. Also you can see lots of huge buildings for shopping. All rooms at the university are huge too. I've never seen such a huge cafeteria before. So were the classrooms, which were so neat. There we took our first three tests about speaking, writing and listening & reading comprehension. In the afternoon, we also met our new room-mates from Taiwan. We looked for our rooms and chat a little bit to get to know each other before sharing something as intimate as a bedroom is. I am sure I will get to know them better and become good friends that will last long time. We had some games to get to know each other and help remembering our names. That makes ir easier to interact for the first times. To make the long story short, I've had a great time and it's only the first day!